One prominent Central Alberta newsmaker wants more me time. Another wants to channel Gandhi.
It’s that time of year again, when resolutions are boldly declared in the name of improving one’s happiness and well-being.
Some of Central Alberta’s movers and shakers shared their 2012 New Year’s resolutions with the Advocate.
Mayor Morris Flewwelling wants to “make more time for Morris.” Flewwelling said he works an average 80-hour work week.
“That doesn’t leave very much time for anything,” he said. “Second, third, fourth place is time for me. I try to make time for other people in my family but I just don’t have time for myself.”
Flewwelling seems to be ahead of the game with his fancy footwork. He is paired with a professional dancer for the Red Deer Hospice Society’s Celebrity Dance-Off fundraising gala in March.
“It’s a blast,” laughed Flewwelling, who will dance an energetic two-minute jive. “I think that’s what’s driving the healthier lifestyle.”
As part of his mayoral duties, Flewwelling will push harder to bring an alcohol treatment centre to Central Alberta.
“It’s very defeating for people who want to move ahead and have that resolution in their life to move ahead and then don’t have that treatment centre that they can easily access,” said Flewwelling. “Or they can access it and they are away from their families.”
Red Deer Public School District board of trustees chairman Lawrence Lee doesn’t leave much room for the traditional New Year’s resolutions like shedding a few pounds or giving up smoking.
“I don’t drink,” laughed Lee. “I don’t smoke. I’m not overweight. What really comes to my mind is there’s that saying from Gandhi, ‘Be the change you want to see in the world.’ I want to be the change I want to see in the world. You translate that to others and hopefully it’s infectious and it goes from there.”
Lee would like to see education find its footing with Bill 18, the new Education Act expected to be introduced in the spring legislature.
Blackfalds RCMP Sgt. James Derouin quotes Martin Luther King in his far-reaching resolution.
“If my brain can conceive it and my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it,” said Derouin.
Red Deer Advocate publisher Fred Gorman said he wants to spend some quality time on his treadmill next year. Gorman aims to exercise half an hour five times a week.
Jennifer Vanderschaeghe, executive director of the Central Alberta AIDS Network Society, will cut herself some slack next year. “My resolution is to be kinder to myself,” said Vanderschaeghe. “A lot of time I am harder on me than anyone else is. It’s about giving myself a break and recognizing I am trying to do my best.” Vanderschaeghe also hopes to help clients by creating opportunities for them to share their own stories.
“It’s about bringing the reality of the community that we work with and having them tell their stories,” she said.
Red Deer Chamber of Commerce president Maureen McMurtrie will work on the balancing act of work and family life.
“For the business community, it’s kinda like that same theme of my resolution to see everybody here maintain a healthy status,” she said. “It ties in nicely for my theme for my presidency, which was succession planning. I think it’s an area where Central Alberta could lead the country because it is an area where I believe businesses have not put a lot of focus. It’s my hope they will take advantage of any learning opportunity and spend the time necessary to ensure the business is planned for succession and we don’t lose these businesses as our demographic ages.”
crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com